


Bleed myself dry

by Nyxie_lights13



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Boys In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting to Know Each Other, Harry Potter Next Generation, Hogwarts Fifth Year, Love Confessions, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Not Canon Compliant, Not Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, Partners in Potions Class (Harry Potter), Pining Scorpius Malfoy, Strangers to Lovers, Unrequited Crush, albus is popular, relatively short, scorpius isn’t
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-24 07:07:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30068523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyxie_lights13/pseuds/Nyxie_lights13
Summary: Scorpius is partnered up with Albus Potter in potions classthey’ve never been close, but they’re sure about to benerd!scorpius and popular!albus au
Relationships: Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter
Comments: 6
Kudos: 40





	1. |week one

**Author's Note:**

> my favourite au with my favourite ship
> 
> not canon compliant, popular albus and nerdy scorpius get partnered together in potions class  
> this will be quite short, only a few chapters long:)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> scorpius gets paired with albus, they don't exactly hit it off

“Scorpius Malfoy, Albus Potter”

Scorpius’s head had never snapped up so quickly in his entire life. His mouth fell open, dropping his quill onto his parchment, the black ink staining a small corner of the ivory paper. He raised his hand, rubbing the smudge on his work with his other arm. 

“Professor Estella, can I work-” Scorpius began, but his professor just lifted a finger, giving him a look that answered his question for him. 

No, he couldn’t work with someone else, or by himself, he had to go work with bloody Albus Potter. 

And by the sounds of a large groan from the back of the class, Albus didn’t sound so delighted to be working with Scorpius either. 

He glanced over his shoulder at the back of the classroom, Albus and his pretty big group of friends were sprawled out over the last row of desks. They were all laughing quietly about something that Scorpius was sure he wouldn’t understand even if he was in that group, he guessed that once you became popular, you automatically understood every joke. 

Scorpius let his head fall into his hands, releasing a breathy sigh. He’d managed to avoid _that_ group of people since returning for fifth year a few months ago, now he had to go and work with their sodding ringleader. It was literally Scorpius’s idea of hell. 

He didn’t see Albus making any attempt to move over to Scorpius’s desk, he begrudgingly gathered up his things, awkwardly crossing the classroom to Albus and his group. They were a mix of both Gryffindors and Slytherins, Rose Granger-Weasely was in a heated debate with Anthony Flint about something to do with Quidditch; everyone else was listening intently, adding their own anecdotes as the conversation went on. Albus himself had an arm slung around Polly Chapmans shoulders, his feet propped up on a desk in front of him. 

Scorpius very unceremoniously cleared his throat. The conversation ceased, the whole group turning to stare directly at him. 

He gulped. 

“Um…Professor Estella said I, um, have to work with you.. Albus.” Scorpius stuttered out, his eyeline dropping to the floor. Albus sighed, removing his arm from Polly’s shoulder and standing up; the desk his legs were lying on squeaked on the floor as he moved. Scorpius winced at the sound. 

“Let’s get this over with then.” Albus grunted, turning back to his friend group. “Don’t be late for practise again tonight Flint, if you are, I’ll make you regret it.” He joked, shoving Flint’s shoulder. He turned back to Scorpius, nodding curtly before moving over to a free desk to start on their project. Albus handed him a piece of parchment that had instructions written in loopy handwriting. 

_Task:_

_Research and brew a potion of you and your partners choosing. Include your research notes, brewing notes and sixteen inches of parchment of your overall thoughts and progress. You will be marked on the level of detail in your research, how effective your potion is and how well you work as a pair._

_You have three weeks to complete this task, it counts to 60% of your final grade so please take this seriously._

“We should do a draught of peace, it’s the easiest.” Albus suggested, rather rudely, his eyes darting back over to his friend group. “Well maybe we should do a wit-sharpening potion, clearly you need one considering a draught of peace is the most advanced fifth year potion.” Scorpius scoffed, digging his quill and parchment out of his robe pocket. Albus’s eyes narrowed, a look of disgust threading through his face. “Don’t you know who I am?” He said, proudly. Scorpius rolled his eyes. 

“Yup. I just don’t care.” 

Albus’s face was growing redder, evidently getting angrier by the second. 

“What makes you think you can talk to _me_ like that?” Albus put emphasis on “me”, dreadfully reminding Scorpius that he was a million times more popular than him, and could probably destroy any shred of reputation that Scorpius had. “Stop being ludicrous Albus, I’ll talk to you like you are a normal human being, because we can’t all get through our exams by our last name.” He spat, slamming his quill down on the table. To his surprise, Albus simply leaned back in his chair. 

“Look at you, using fancy words on me, you’ve grown up a lot since first year, haven’t you?” 

Albus was smirking wickedly, tapping the tip of his quill against the textbook open in front of him. He raised an eyebrow, shoving the book over to Scorpius’s side of the table. It was open on the ingredients for a wit sharpening potion. “We’ll do it just because I can't be arsed arguing with you, just know, you are not my favourite person today.” Albus snapped, shoving the textbook over with one final nudge. 

“I’m not your favourite person any day.” Scorpius said, grabbing the book and reading over the ingredients. Albus merely shrugged, sitting further up in his chair. He leaned over the table, taking a piece of parchment from Scorpius’s bag. “Hey!? Can’t you get your own parchment? Or does golden boy have everyone do everything for him?” 

Scorpius knew he was pushing it, he normally wasn’t this confident around anyone, but Albus’s cockiness was spurring him on to just say everything he’d been dying to say for years. 

The Potter boy had everything he ever wanted, he was fed love and appreciation on a silver spoon. He had the perfect life, both of his parents were still alive and _very_ famous, he looked like he had an amazing relationship with his siblings, he was dating the prettiest girl in their year and he was exceedingly popular. Albus Potter had the dream life, and he didn’t forget to remind everyone of this daily. 

“Do yourself a favour and just piss off Scorpius, if I have to deal with you for the next three weeks, you’re going to have to learn to not be an arse.” Albus retorted, staring Scorpius down with malice in his eyes. 

“Push the fact I don’t like you aside, I have to actually pass my OWLs this year? So can we just ignore each other and just do the bloody work?” Scorpius started to pack his stuff up, his eyes not leaving Albus’s as he did so. “You have your own room right?” He nodded, every fifth year Slytherin did. 

“I’ll come to yours tonight, after Quidditch practise, let's just get this done so we can just go back to disliking the other and giving dirty looks in the hallways.” 

And with that, the bell rang, Albus disappeared out the door with the rest of his entourage. 

-

Scorpius arrived back at his dorm room after class, he was very thankful he was sorted into Slytherin, he heard every other house had to share rooms with their classmates; he hadn’t done that past fourth year. The room was small, but welcoming. A four poster bed was placed in the middle, he’d shoved the desk into the corner to give him more space on the floor, a bookcase stood next to the entrance of the bathroom. 

It was quaint, but Scorpius made it his own. 

He lay back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He exhaled, closing his eyes. 

Albus Potter was coming to his room, to touch his things and talk to him about a project. Scorpius felt like throwing up. 

Stupid, famous, _gorgeous_ Albus Potter. 

He only hated him because he had everything Scorpius wanted. Minus the Polly Chapman stuff because she kind of creeped him out. 

He sat up, looking around his room, the blue tinge from the lake cascading in through the window, dyeing his dorm in shades of turquoise. Scorpius stood up, sitting down at his desk chair, pulling out his pile of extensive homework. 

That's what Scorpius did whenever he felt out of control of something, he buried himself in his studies. He’d always been an academic, incredibly book smart and naturally academically talented. It showed in his grades, never gaining anything below an Acceptable in all his years at school; it ran in the family, both his mother and father were exceptionally smart. 

Right now, he was severely out of control of a situation. Scorpius didn’t even like working with people who he considered friends, let alone working with the utterly dense popular boy who was coming to stink up his room after Quidditch practise. 

He glanced down at his watch. Pretty boy was late. 

Almost on cue, he heard a knock at his door. 

“Come in.” Scorpius grumbled. 

Albus walked into Scorpius’s dorm room, noticeably very disheveled. His hair even messier than usual, his cheeks as red as the Gryffindor tie hanging around his neck. “I’m sorry I was late, I was doing stuff.” Albus panted, out of breath, he must’ve ran. 

“By the looks of your tie, Polly Chapman is _stuff_.” Scorpius smirked, Albus pushed the door closed with his feet, sitting down on the chair next to him. “She’s not my girlfriend” he mumbled, playing with his hands. Scorpius raised an eyebrow, they were all over each other everyday, surprised to hear that they weren’t actually dating. “But you want her to be, right?” Scorpius quizzed, the other boy twitched in his seat, unsure of himself. 

“Can we just start our project or something? I don’t want to talk about this with you.” Albus sneered, throwing his bag down and pulling out a textbook. 

They worked in relative silence for the next hour, only speaking to each other to ask a work related question. Scorpius had never been so bored doing work in his entire life, Albus’s handwriting was messy, his work was disorganised and he couldn’t tell a potion bottle from quill ink; it was dire. 

“Can we stop? My head hurts.” Albus whined, kicking the floor with his feet.

“That’s called thinking, go with it.” Scorpius said, irritated. Albus gave him a face, doodling on his parchment. 

He glanced over at the other boys paper, he was doodling little snakes in the margins. Sure they were perfectly drawn, but there was no work written on his parchment. Scorpius inhaled sharply, biting his bottom lip to stop him from screaming at Albus. He looked up at him, green eyes wide with confusion. “What?” 

“Can you please go be stupid somewhere that’s away from me? You’ve not done any work and I can’t stand to look at you.” Scorpius snapped, getting up from his seat and opening his door for Albus, his hands trembling. Albus stood up, strutting past him with a huge air of confidence. Before he left, he whispered into Scorpius’s ear. 

“Do you really think you can run that pretty mouth off whenever you want?” 

Scorpius kicked into gear, trying to push down the blush appearing at the tips of his ears. 

“Wanna bet?” 

They let that hang in the air for a moment, Albus looked him up and down, smiling smugly before shutting the door. 

Leaving an uncomfortably flustered Scorpius standing alone in his room. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yayyy new series!! chapters 2 and 3 will be up in the next few days  
> just a little short series that i’ve been wanting to write for agesssss  
> i hope you enjoy:)


	2. |week two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> scorpius and albus start brewing their potion, it doesn't really go to plan  
> scorpius does something impulsive

It was embarrassing how much Scorpius had begun to get tongue tied around Albus. 

Extremely embarrassing. 

Albus would say two words to him and Scorpius was a stuttering, blushing mess. Which was completely out of character for him. 

Scorpius took pride in the fact that he could mouth off to Albus as easily as counting to ten. An hour alone with the boy and he was a puddle on the floor. 

Their project had been going alright, they were close to finishing the research they needed before they could start brewing their potion. They’d started talking a little more as well, nothing too extreme, just small conversations here and there; but that didn’t mean they liked each other. They were still throwing out petty arguments and insults, but there was less bite behind them now, they were pretty much fighting for the hell of it at this point.

But was Scorpius going to back down? Of course he wasn’t. 

They were in the library, a place they had adopted as their new studying spot, apparently Scorpiuis’s tiny box room wasn’t adequate anymore. 

Albus was sat across from him on one of the large tables, he was nibbling the end of his quill between his teeth, his eyes darting between his parchment and the textbooks open in front of them. The tiniest bit of quill ink tainting his lips from his quill, Albus was fixated on his essay, while Scorpius appeared to be fixated on him. 

There was no doubt that Albus was attractive, he was Harry Potter and Ginny Weasely’s lovechild for Merlin's sake. He had Ginny’s bone structure, making his jawline sharp but his mouth soft, the mess of dark brown hair hung gently at the sides of his face; freckles covering tan skin. He didn't need glasses like his father and brother, showing off fresh green eyes.

“Scorpius” 

His voice was smooth, deep. 

“Scorpius?” 

It soaked through his ears like water, making him let out a shaky sigh. 

“SCORPIUS?!” 

Scorpius was shook out of these thoughts by an irritated Albus, he was laying back on his chair, robes discarded and his shirt unbuttoned at the top. “What” Scorpius snapped, dipping his head back down to his essay. “Can we talk?” Albus asked him, Scorpius grimaced. 

“Is that not what we’re doing right now?” Scorpius wasn’t that good at talking about things that didn’t include school or homework, he just wasn’t hardwired like that, he didn’t really like talking about things that everyone else his age talked about. Albus sat up, leaning forward on his elbows. “Do you fancy anyone?” 

Scorpius swallowed. 

“No” he replied, a little too quickly. 

“I thought you fancied my cousin?” Albus grinned, Scorpius snorted. His Rose phase was humiliating, he drooled over her every move, he didn’t realise other people knew about it though. “Yeah, I did, a few years ago now.” He was mumbling, not looking up from his essay. 

“Ah right, so  _ do _ you have your eye on anyone?” The other boy repeated his earlier question, Scorpius sat up straighter.

Did he fancy anyone? He wasn’t sure, of course there were a lot of pretty girls in his year, but they never seemed to interest him. They were always too girly or too fragrant, too soft and gentle; Scorpius didn’t really like that. “Hello? Earth to Scorpius?” Albus was waving a hand in front of his face, Scorpius just shook his head, silently answering his question. 

“God you’re like talking to a brick wall.” Albus complained, running a hand through his hair. “I’m trying to have an actual conversation with you!” he finished, exasperated. Scorpius closed his textbook with a snap, glaring at the other boy. “And I’m trying to subtly avoid it.” He remarked, peering down at his watch. 

“I’ll see you after lunch, Don’t be late for potions, we’re starting to brew today.” Scorpius swiped up his textbook from the table, leaving quickly to head down to the great hall. 

-

Much to Scorpius’s surprise, Albus was in the classroom before him. His head was bent over a cauldron, robes already thrown over the back of a chair. Scorpius gulped at the sight of the wavy brown hair, the way his hands were meticulously flipping through the pages of notes made his cheeks tint pink; his stomach tugging uncomfortably. 

He’d always felt slightly nervous around the other boy, but that was just because Albus had eyes on him all the time, there was constantly someone staring at him. Scorpius also was a bit intimidated by him, but he’d never admit that. So that was why he was dead set on humbling him.

He choked down his thoughts, walking into the class with his head held high. 

He threw his bag down on the floor, making as much noise as he possibly could. Scorpius pulled out his textbook and quill, staring down Albus intently. The boy just smiled at him, eyes so green they might as well have been piercing through Scorpius’s skull, and they were filled with  _ joy.  _

“Hi! I hope you don’t mind that I started without you.” Albus chattered, he was happy,  _ too  _ happy. It was weird. 

“Why are you so happy? Normally you’ve got a massive stick up your arse.” Scorpius muttered, moving around the table and starting to set his ingredients out. Albus turned to him, a huge smile on his face. “Me and Polly broke up” he said, far too excitedly for what he said. Scorpius spluttered, dropping the bottle of ginger roots he was holding, quickly cleaning them up. 

“I thought you weren’t dating?” Scorpius murmured, starting to cut the newly cleaned up ginger roots. Albus shrugged, not saying anything in reply. Scorpius dipped his head back down, pulling his focus back over to his potion. They worked together in silence for the next twenty minutes, not even looking at each other.

Something had shifted in that time, they were ever so slightly brushing their hands while they picked up ingredients, shoulders bumping as Albus moved closer to Scorpius. The room got twelve times hotter, Scorpius flushing from the bottom of his neck to the tops of his pale ears, that tugging feeling coming back to his stomach; it was almost perfect. 

Almost. 

Scorpius’s bad luck appeared to follow him everywhere, their cauldron turned an ugly shade of green, before exploding all over their desk. Releasing the most putrid smell Scorpius had ever come across. 

“Shit!” 

“This is bad Albus!”

They were both drenched in whatever liquid was in the cauldron, smelling like rotting bin bags. Scorpius looked at Albus, who was rubbing his eyes furiously, the rest of the class giggling at them lightly. “This is bad.” 

“You said that already” Albus breathed, voice quiet and filled with embarrassment. 

“It seemed worth repeating,” Scorpius added quickly, brushing down his soaking wet robes. 

He heard a yelp of pain from his side, Albus was at a right angle, leaning over the desk with his hands over his eyes; the potion must’ve hit his eyes. Scorpius moved closer to him, touching his shoulder experimentally. Albus shot up from where he was lying, shoving Scorpius’s arm off of him, blinking quickly. “I have to….go.” 

And he bolted out the door. 

Scorpius was after him in an instant. 

\- 

He saw Albus hurtle down the hallway, scampering into the boys bathroom in the dungeons. Scorpius paused in front of the door, debating whether or not to go in. Realistically, he didn’t know Albus well enough, they hadn’t had one genuinely nice conversation, he wasn’t sure how to console him if he was upset. But he would feel extremely guilty if he left a distressed Albus Potter alone, possibly upset, in a bathroom. He took a deep breath, pushing open the bathroom door. 

Albus was standing over the bathroom sink. 

Putting in a pair of contact lenses. 

And he clearly heard the door open, because he jumped with fright. 

“Did you see that?” Albus questioned, glaring at Scorpius. He was unsure of what to say, he’d walked in on clearly a very personal situation, the right thing to do was lie and get out of there as quickly as possible. 

“Um.. I-” Scorpius stammered, backing towards the door. 

“The correct answer is no, no you didn’t. Now piss off.” 

Scorpius faded, the hurt from Albus’s words rushing through him, hitting him directly in the chest like a stinging hex. He spun around on his heel, reaching for the door handle, just as he was about to pull it open-

“Wait!” 

Scorpius whipped around, Albus was staring at him regretfully, awkwardly hanging over the sink, tugging at the sleeves of his school shirt. “Can you stay?” He mumbled, Scorpius was taken aback, swallowing before shuffling towards him. The other boy slid down the bathroom wall, moving over somewhat to allow Scorpius to sit next to him. 

“I’ve needed glasses since I was little, learnt how to put contacts in before I came into first year. Didn't wanna be a clone of my dad.” Albus admitted, sincerely. Scorpius raised an eyebrow, “why not?” He was confused as to why anyone wouldn’t want to look like Harry Potter, especially his own son. He heard Albus sigh, turning his face to look at Scorpius directly. 

“Because I’m not like them, I like being set apart from the rest of my family. I like that I’m in Slytherin, I like that I’m not just another golden Potter child. So if I can avoid being any similar to them, I will.” Albus was fidgeting with his hands, refusing to meet Scorpius’s eyes. He didn’t really know what to say, muttering out something that resembled “oh.” 

They sat in the deathly silence for what seemed like hours, their legs and shoulders pressed together, Scorpius’s stomach was fluttering like mad; he just wished he could understand it. 

“Why do you always wear black?” 

Scorpius snorted, “so I’m ready for your funeral.” 

Albus chuckled, shoving his shoulder gently, “I’m serious!” 

“My mum died a few years ago, just never seemed fitting to wear any other colour.” Scorpius sniffled at the mention of his mum, she was the light in both his and his dad's life, everything was grey without her. Albus touched his knee, giving him a watery smile. No words were needed, they were just two boys who quietly understood each other, sitting on a disgusting bathroom floor. 

“We should be getting back, they’ll be getting worried.” Albus whispered, standing up from the floor, dusting himself off, Scorpius beginning to follow suit. 

He didn’t want to leave their little bubble, as soon as they stepped out of the bathroom they were back to normal. They would be back to biting insults, scathing looks, popular Albus and awkward Scorpius. He didn’t want that, and it was time to do something about it. 

He hopped up, grabbing Albus’s arm before he could leave the bathroom, spinning him around. 

Taking both sides of his face in his hands, Scorpius pressed his lips hard against Albus’s. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> final chapter up tomorrow my loves, i hope you enjoyed<3


	3. |week three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> scorpius and albus finish their project

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a pretty long chapter, have fun my loves<3

“You didn’t seriously..?”

“Yep”

“You just..?”

“Yep”

“Does that mean…?”

“Quite possibly.” 

Scorpius was stunned, surprised at his own level of confidence. 

He’d just kissed Albus potter. And Albus Potter did not kiss him back. 

The kiss had lasted all of two seconds, before Albus pushed him away. Scorpius was backed up against the bathroom wall, his face burning with embarrassment. It was the most impulsive and heat of the moment decision Scorpius had ever made, he didn’t even like boys. 

The fluttering in his stomach apparently disagreed. 

But Albus wasn’t leaving the bathroom, sure he was standing right next to the door, but he was making zero attempt to walk out of it. Scorpius let his head fall back against the cold stone, everything that he had just done catching up to him. Albus was the most popular and influential person in their year, there was no question that he had kissed loads of girls before. But by the look of utter disgust on his face, a boy had never kissed him. 

“I’m sorry, I-um, I didn’t…” Scorpius was stammering, unable to find the right words for the situation. What do you say to the _boy_ you just kissed in a manky bathroom after arguing with him for two whole weeks? 

“S’fine” Albus was mumbling, picking at his fingernails, trying to conceal the fact his face was also scarlett red. Scorpius was avoiding his gaze, looking everywhere except Albus’s eyes; he needed out of that bathroom as soon as possible. He pushed himself off the wall, reaching for the door handle. 

“Scorpius.” 

He hesitantly turned around, Albus was a lot closer to him than he was before. He leant over Scorpius, closing the door with a soft click. He touched his chest lightly, pushing him back against the bathroom door. Albus placed one hand on the wood behind Scorpius’s head, effectively pinning him against the door. 

“You really do have a pretty mouth.” Albus whispered, and Scorpius literally _whimpered._

Albus hooked two fingers underneath his chin, closing the gap between them. He kissed him lightly, giving Scorpius every chance to pull away. 

He didn’t. 

Scorpius had never kissed anyone before, and had no idea why, because this was the most incredible feeling he’d ever experienced. His chest was on fire, and there was no doubt his face was too. Scorpius turned his head to the side, deepening the kiss, letting Albus’s tongue slide over his. Albus snaked an arm around his waist, pulling him off the door; shoving him against the wall. 

Holy merlin, they were snogging. 

He was snogging Albus Potter. 

Scorpius didn’t know where to put his hands, they’d just been awkwardly hovering on his hips, he’d never even kissed a girl let alone a guy; he didn’t exactly know where was appropriate. Scorpius was trying so hard not to get into it, in fear of getting too carried away and making Albus uncomfortable. But when are you going to get another shot at snogging Albus Potter? 

_Fuck it._

His hands flew immediately up to Albus’s hair, giving an experimental tug. Albus groaned into Scorpius’s mouth, pressing his body even closer. Every single nerve in Scorpius’s body was ignited, that fluttery feeling was back and louder than ever. 

So was the school bell that had just pierced through the quiet bathroom. 

Scorpius and Albus shot apart, lining the bathroom walls, breathing heavily. Red cheeked and swollen lipped. “I won’t say anything if you don’t.” Albus rushed out, looking Scorpius dead in the eyes. Scorpius nodded slowly, before darting straight out the bathroom and into the busy hallway. 

-

He skipped his last class of the day, running straight to his dorm room. He pushed the black door open, stumbling in unceremoniously. Of course his room was no different than usual, it smelled like his cologne, all his pictures were still pinned up on the wall, the ones with his friends, his mother and fathers wedding photos and his baby pictures were all still there. Scorpius’s sheet music was still lying on his desk, the Malfoy crests embroidered on his robe. Of course it was the same, but it felt entirely different. 

Scorpius sat quietly on his bed, playing with his hands, tapping his feet, scratching his neck, doing everything he could to avoid the destroying thoughts in his head. 

The door clicked open behind him, weirdly enough, Rose Weasley was standing there. 

“Rose?” 

“Well spotted Malfoy.” 

Ouch, that one hurt. He hated that she couldn’t even call him by his first name. 

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” Rose accused, storming into the room. Scorpius’s eyes widened, how could she have found out already, did Albus tell her? 

“I don’t know what you mean.” He said, truthfully, he didn’t really know what she was talking about. Rose sat down next to him, feeling the emerald sheets beneath her fingers. “What would you do if I kissed you right now?” she asked, moving way too close to Scorpius for his liking. “Uh.. I’m not sure.” Rose traced a finger up his arm, he gulped, shuffling away from the girl. 

“Let me rephrase, what would you have done if I kissed you two years ago?” She repeated, tilting her head to the side. 

“Kiss you back, definitely.” Scorpius confirmed, nodding. She smiled a little. 

“Why the change?” Rose pressed, Albus must’ve said something. He sat back against his headboard, why did his answer change? He didn’t like Rose anymore, but not because she wasn’t pretty or lovely, it was because she was a girl.

_Oh for merlin’s sake._

“I’m gay, aren’t I” it wasn’t a question, Rose didn’t need to answer, not like she would anyway. Everything seemed to make sense to him now, like he’d needed to say it for a while, but he just didn’t understand it. Rose touched him faintly on the shoulder, smiling softly. “I can’t tell you that, only you can figure that out, but I’m always here to listen if you just need to talk.” She consoled, rubbing his shoulder, he gave her a weird look. 

“Why? We’re not even close?” Why was she offering him all this help? They’d had maybe three conversations in the last year, she was not the person he wanted to be having this conversation with. 

“Because Albus is important to me, and from what he told me, he’s important to you too.” Rose raised an eyebrow, Scorpius flushed a deep red. Standing up from the bed, he ran a hand through his blonde hair, exhaling shakily. He turned to Rose, who was still sitting crossed legged on his four-poster. “How did you find out?” Scorpius questioned, Albus said he wouldn’t tell anyone, yet here comes Rose bursting into his room, claiming to know everything. 

“Boys are easily manipulated when their masculinity is threatened.” She winked, before sauntering out of the room

-

Scorpius wasn’t planning on leaving his room for the rest of the night, but the unhelpful growl of his stomach meant that he would need to go downstairs for dinner. He was trying to avoid spotting the mess of ebony hair, but he had to eat. 

He grunted as he stood up, wandering to the great hall. Taking the long way round, hoping by the time he got there, dinner would be almost over and he wouldn’t need to speak to anyone. The light and chatter radiating off the hall meant that dinner was very much still on. 

He slid down into his normal spot at the Slytherin table, picking up a plate and piling food onto it. The weight on the bench shifted, Albus was sitting down next to him. He wasn’t sitting next to his friends, he was sitting next to Scorpius. 

“Hi” he said, nonchalantly, pouring himself a drink. 

“Hey” Scorpius was very close to bolting from the hall, when Professor Mcgonagall stood up to do a speech. Why now, of all times, did the headmistress have to do a bloody speech. Scorpius stared at Albus next to him, his eyes were trained on the sharp woman in front of them, his face rested on his pretty hands. Albus absentmindedly shuffled closer to him. 

It was a completely innocent movement, but it was making Scorpius go mental: Albus’s hand fell from his face, lying next to his own, brushing against it scarcely. Scorpius kept his eyes focused intently on Professor Mcgonagall, trying hard to ignore the fluttering feeling in his stomach. Albus’s thigh pushed against Scorpius’s, he could feel his face going bright red. God this was so embarrassing, Albus was just mindlessly touching him like he probably did with his entire friend group and Scorpius was virtually going crazy. 

To distract himself from what was going on, Scorpius’s eyes scoured the Gryffindor table, his eyeline falling to Rose. She was sitting with Polly Chapman and the majority of Albus’s friend group, even some of the Slytherins were there. She smiled and waved at him, he gave her a sad smile back. Changing his gaze. 

He found James, James Sirius Potter was the epitome of a Potter-Weasley lovechild, he played quidditch, was popular like Albus, a Gryffindor and he wore wire rimmed glasses. James was laughing with his group of friends, they were all poking a roast chicken with a fork. 

_Fucking weirdos._

Mcgonagall finally finished her speech, Scorpius picked his plate back up, filling it with the vast array of desserts that had just appeared in front of them. Albus chuckled at him. 

“Got enough food there Pi?” 

_Pi, holy shit._

Scorpius made a face at him, “mind your own business.” 

Albus shoved his shoulder playfully, stealing one of the chocolate covered strawberries of Scorpius’s plate.

“Hey!”

-

Scorpius didn’t see Albus for the rest of the week, they were both holed up in separate parts of the library, working on their final essays. He sort of missed him, the other boy had such an incredible presence, anyone around him felt immediately comfortable. 

They’d been given the week off from potions to work on their essays, it was really important that they were perfect, you could mess up everything else in the course but if your project was excellent, you could pass the whole subject with flying colours. 

At this moment, Scorpius was curled up in an armchair in the Slytherin common room; in Scorpius’s opinion, the most underrated place in all of Hogwarts. It just had this aura around it that made anyone inside feel instantly at home. It was also quiet all the time, which was the best part. Quiet was hard to find when your whole life had been excruciatingly loud. 

He caught sight of the messy hair hunched over a piece of parchment at one of the tables in the common room. Albus looked adorable when he was concentrating, the way his mind blocked out everything except what he was working on. Scorpius had no idea how he was supposed to finish his essay when he spent all his time drooling over the most beloved guy in their year. 

“I know you’re staring at me Scorpius.” 

Scorpius' head snapped back up from his book, Albus hadn’t even looked up from his paper. “No I’m not, I just got distracted” 

“Ah, must be my stunningly good looks.” 

_Yes._

He looked up from his parchment for a second, smirking at Scorpius, whose brain just about short circuited. He closed his book, standing up from his armchair, crossing over to the table Albus was sitting at. Pulling out a chair and sitting down, opening his book back up and continuing to read. 

He peered over at Albus’s essay, there was only about four words written on it; and he only had a day to finish it. 

“DoYouWantHelpWithYourEssay.” Scorpius blurted, Albus screwed up his face in confusion, “what?” Scorpius breathed out, slowing himself down. “Do you want help with your essay?” He gestured to Albus’s parchment, “but by the looks of things, I didn’t need to ask.” Scorpius smiled smugly, Albus chuckled, throwing his quill at him. “I hate you,” he said fondly, smiling. 

“Why? I’m lovely.” Scorpius sang, marking the page in his book before shutting it. Albus turned his attention back to his essay, dipping his quill back in the ink. “I don’t really need help, but do you mind copying down these notes? I don’t have time to do it all.” Albus asked sweetly, batting his long eyelashes. Scorpius kicked out his chair, moving over to sit next to Albus. 

Scorpius picked up his quill, copying down the potion notes from Albus’s notebook onto a separate sheet of parchment. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the other boy tilting his head up to stare at him writing. Scorpius took pride in his handwriting, every letter was drawn with such elegance and respect, it was nothing like Albus’s; which pretty much resembled hieroglyphics. “Hey Pi?” 

_Pi pi pi pi oh my god pi._

He didn’t look up from his quill but a smile was playing on his lips, “yes Albus?” He pretended to sound annoyed, but he was failing miserably. Albus scoffed and pointed at his parchment, “can you teach me how to write like that?” he mused, Scorpius’s face grew hotter, swallowing, before leaning over to Albus’s right. 

Scorpius encased his hand around Albus’s, moving the quill together in elegant brushes that helped better Albus’s handwriting in seconds. The other boy leaned his head onto Scorpius’s shoulder, laughing softy. His dainty hands resting on his page. 

“There we go, it looks slightly less like chicken scratch now..” Scorpius jokes, Albus’s mouth falls open in mock shock, gasping dramatically. He laughed loudly, removing his head from Scorpius’s shoulder, looking straight at him. “What?” Albus was giving him a face. 

“Right now, I don’t know whether to kiss you or push you off a bridge.” 

“Can I pick?” 

Albus’s smirk returned to his face, “depends on which you choose.”

Scorpius bumped his forehead against Albus’s, his gaze flitting between his eyes and lips. Albus’s lips parted, leaning in to kiss Scorpius. 

It was different this time, it was sweet, filled with love and adoration. Scorpius wasn’t wedged up against a gross bathroom wall with his tongue stuck down Albus’s throat, he was getting kissed sweetly by the boy who made his heart flip six ways from sunday. Albus reached a hand up to cup his jaw, running his palm over Scorpius’s cheek; before pulling away.

Scorpius smiled, a genuine smile, touching his head gently to Albus’s. 

“Thank you.” 

-

Scorpius was walking in the courtyard, holding a crisp white envelope. Inside the envelope was his and Albus’s potions mark. He didn’t want to open it, not without Albus anyway. 

He took in the air around him, it was mid March, a rarely sunny day had hit Scotland; he didn’t even need to wear a jacket. Scorpius sat himself down on a bench, running his fingers over the envelope. Albus had probably already opened it, laughing with his friend group somewhere around Hogwarts. He carded a hand through his hair, admiring the way the leaves were returning to the trees. 

Scorpius couldn't wait any longer, he had to open his envelope before he lost his mind. He flicked his nail over the wax, pulling out the letter inside. 

“Pi! Wait!” 

Albus was bounding towards him, robes billowing out in the wind. He was holding an open envelope in his right hand, waving it furiously. Scorpius beamed, leaning over the back of the bench. His friend flopped down next to him, face falling a little when he noticed Scorpius hadn’t opened the envelope yet. 

“What are you waiting for?! Open it!” Albus bubbled, shaking his leg in his excitement. Scorpius ripped the envelope open fully, pulling out his marks. 

_Scorpius Malfoy, Albus Potter: Wit-sharpening potion_

_Research- 9/10_

_Brewing-9/10_

_Final essay-10/10_

_Overall mark-28/30, gaining an Outstanding._

_A beautiful project from the two of you, extremely impressed with the way you managed to complete this, well done._

“It’s my first O in potions Pi!” Albus cheered, wrapping his arms around Scorpius, who was smiling from ear to ear. “I knew you had it in you Al” hugging Albus back. He could smell him, he smelt like vanilla pods and pumpkin juice. It felt like home to Scorpius. 

“I couldn’t have done it without you.” Albus complimented, Scorpius blushed at the praise, looking down to his hands; shrugging slightly. “You did as much as I did, Al you earned that O.” 

It was Albus’s turn to blush, fumbling over his words. “Well I-uh, it was just um..we did it-” 

Scorpius shut him up, grabbing the back of his neck and kissing him hard. The paper fell out of his hands, tumbling softly to the ground. Albus was holding both sides of his face, his hands were cold, but they were quickly warming up under Scorpius’s cheeks. Albus pulled away, a content smile threading through his face. “I was thinking, could we go to hogsmeade together next weekend? Just us?” Albus wondered out loud. 

Scorpius laced their fingers together. 

“I like the sound of ‘us’” 

_fin._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading my mini series!  
> if you have any ideas/prompts you'd like to see, let me know the ship and i will write it, it is gratefully appreciated!  
> kisses<3  
> nyxie x


End file.
